Sort of a Moment of Clarity
by ButtonandaZipper
Summary: *Rileystreet Theme* With time running out, how will Chord handle his feelings for Amber? More importantly - how will Kevin deal with it? LOL Disclaimer: I only own the story. Not the 'characters' (obviously - since they are real folks - I couldn't own them. geesh. lol)
1. Chapter 1

For the life of him, Chord couldn't stop.

Everything about Ms. Riley these last few weeks had set his mind wondering and his heart fluttering. He tried to tell himself that his feelings came from the show really ending this season and that they wouldn't see each other as much afterwards. Though a week later the new scripts were issued, and after his rage from Samcedes not happening and not having a valid excuse to flirt with Amber - he finally gave up that lie.

From the way she would enter the room for read throughs to her one of a kind laughs from a silly meme that her sister would send her during the day. Even when they were done filming, Chord found himself thinking about her. Wondering what she was doing, or who she was with. He knew he had it bad when he started listening to McRiley on Dashradio on Friday nights - not that he'd ever admit it THAT.

Keeping his newly discovered feelings to himself had been a challenge, but he had managed to do it. Until the last day of rehearsals before their Winter break. He was passing by Amber's trailer and heard that captivating laugh. Before he knew what he was doing - he had walked up the short steps and started knocking on her door.

'OMG! Why did I do that?! What the hell am I gonna say?! ' he thought.

Just as he was turning around to make a run for it, the woman in question had open the door.

'Hey! Was I being too loud Chordy?' Amber asked.

He coughed to clear his mind of the truly raunchy responses that came to mind to answer her question. 'Nah Ambs! I was just wanting an invite to the party - since we're done on set and all.' Damn - was his voice cracking?

'Oh, you just missed it! Mark and I were just watching Chris and Kevin trying to freestyle to 'Gibberish'.' she said with a giggle.

'I had it on LOCK bruh!' Chris shouted from inside in his best hiphop artist voice, causing Amber to giggle some more. Chord couldn't help but to stare at her - the way her eyes lit up had him rooted to where he stood.

'You ain't shit C-whacka! Ya'll know that I won that round!' Kevin chimed in finally.

As Amber turned around to face both of them, Chord looked up quickly and silently begin reciting lines from the last scene he shot that day so he wouldn't get caught staring at her glorious ass. 'Come on you two. Let's go before Ryan or Ian decides there's still time to reshoot a scene.' She still had on the blue jeans from her number with Lea and they were showing off her assets perfectly and proudly.

Once everyone had left her trailer they begin heading to the cars to leave the set.

'So Amber, got any big plans over break?' Chord asked

He could see Kevin side eyeing him and nudging Mark behind him, so he tried not to let his nervousness show.

'Not much really. Just hanging with the family and doing some last minute Christmas shopping. How about you Chord?' she asked.

'Does she know how intoxicating my name sounds coming out of her mouth?' he wondered. Then he answered,'Just gonna do some R&amp;R with the fam too. Maybe somewhere nice and warm this year.'

By now they had made it to the parking lot and were next to her car.

He knew it was cheesy, but he couldn't help but to say it anyway. 'Guess I'll see you next year then.'

Listening to her laugh one more time made it completely worth it. 'See ya next year Chordy.'

She reached out to hug him and when her soft fingertips touched the back of his neck..he closed his eyes and inhaled her scent to commit it to his memory of that moment. Watching her say goodbye to the others before driving away, he almost didn't hear Kevin when he said, 'Will someone PLEASE catch this fool?'

'Wait - what are you talking about?' Chord asked him.

Mark answered for Kevin this time. 'He's talking about you man. It's clear that you've fallen for Mama A..'

'Hard too - from the way those gems of yours are sparkling.' Kevin added sarcastically, causing Mark to brust out laughing

Chris just looked at him while shaking his head. 'It was only a matter of time guys...Leave him be.'

Still kind of shocked that they knew, he had to ask, 'How did ya'll know?'

'I knew something was up when instead of practicing your lines this morning - you choose to watch her and Lea shoot their number.' Mark told him. 'The way you looked at her while she was performing.. I thought your gawking during 'Disco Inferno' was bad..Damn was I wrong!'

'How about when he went to Ian trying to get some Samcedes action after reading the revised script? That was priceless! You in his office trying to pitch a Sam and Mercedes reunion..the fandom would seriously lose it if they knew.' Kevin said. 'If it wasn't my future wifey that you were trying to sneak in some smooch screen time with - I would've been pulling for ya man.'

Chris finally spoke. 'It really doesn't matter how we know Chord. The fact is that we do. Sooner or later the rest of cast will too, so I suggest you spend your vacation deciding if this is something you want to pursue.'

'What?! Oh hell to the No! He ain't pushing up on my boo. Not to-'

Chris cut Kevin off to finish his thought. 'Amber is our girl, so if this is just some fly by night wonderlust - use this time off to get over it. If it's more than that for you, then use this time to decide how you want to let her know. That's all I have to say for now.'

Once the guys left the lot and he was alone, Chord knew what he wanted to do. What he had to do.

With his new sense of clarity - he was determined to let Amber know that he wanted to be more than just friends.


	2. Author's Note

Heya!

I'm trying to avoid any and all Glee/Samcedes spoilers so I can finish this (and another Samcedes story that I started) for ya'll.

It's kinda hard when I don't feel inspired to write for a OTP when negative crap seems to everywhere about them, but I'm gonna get through it - promise :)

Give me a few more days and I will update this, RR(finally!lol) and the new story(it's another one-shot) for you.

Samcedian fans are the best! It's been great writing for ya'll :)

Thanks for stopping by!


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: So sorry about the late update! I don't know why but I decided to make this one a heartfelt bro chapter =D Now I doubt that Nash/Chord do have conversations like this, but it's my story and I can do what I want! (LOL) Nash's inner dialogue is _in this font. _Enjoy!

The Overstreet Christmas Family Vacation to Jamaica had been great! There was plenty of surfing, sightseeing, and sibling smack talking - just as Nash had hoped it would be. On their last day, Chord only wanted to chill with a few brews and enjoy the view. So they loaded up the cooler and headed to the private beach near their resort. Once there Nash noticed that his brother hadn't touched his second Corona for the last 20 minutes. That didn't bother him, but the look on Chord's face did.

"You waiting on that Corona to ask you out before you make a move to on it or what?"

"Yea..Wait - what did you say?"

_Gotta be girl troubles _Nash thought. His brother only ever got this spacey when there was a girl involved.

Chuckling softly, Nash continued, "What, or should I say who is on your mind bro?"

Chord took a swing of his Corona. "It's that obvious,uh?"

"Yep. And I'm still waiting for an answer Captain Evader."

While rolling his eyes at his brothers lame name calling Chord answered him "Okay. Just..first you've gotta promise me that you're not gonna give me any static once I tell you."

Nash almost regretted asking about his romantic life problems after hearing that response.

_Oh great. It's one of those starlets again..When will this boy _**_learn_**? Nash said to himself while shaking his head. He then finished his Corona before agreeing to Chord's request.

"Alright - alright. I won't talk shit about ya. Just tell me what's on your mind."

Looking out at the sky and then at his sand covered feet, Chord spoke. "For the last few weeks I've been crushing hard on Amber. I just don't know how to tell her."

Now it was Nash's turn to look confused. Was his brother talking about..

"Wait. Did I hear you right? Amber? The Amber Riley? Really?!"

He didn't mean to sound so shocked, it's just that he always saw his brother chasing after one delusional or dysfunctional chick after the next. To see that cycle being broken almost made him break out into a happy Running Man dance.

"Yeah, her. Do you have to sound SO surprised?" Chord asked sarcastically.

"Hey - you said not to give you no crap about it - which I haven't. You can't blame me for being surprised though. Bro, you do know that Ms. Riley doesn't date on the job, right? How long exactly have you been into her? And what are you planning to do about it exactly?"

Chord put down his drink and stood up. "Didn't I just say that I don't know man!"

Seeing the frustration on his brother's face Nash quickly brought his hands out. "Whoa, whoa! My bad. Calm down - you'll think of something. Is that why you wanted to just chill today?"

"Yeah. I thought that after spending time with the fam that I would have a plan by now, but I don't. We start shooting again next week and I can't go back to keeping it a secret. Especially when all the guys now know."

_Damn_. Nash thought, _No wonder he's all wound up about this. Those guys don't play when it comes to their 'Mama A'._

"Alright, since I can't stand to see you look so defeated, I will offer up what little relationship advice that I have. Amber probably has you in the Friend zone because of your working status, right? Why don't you just start dropping some subtle hints that you want to be more than that?"

"Sigh..okay. What kind of hints?"

"What? Did you forget how to flirt when you realized you wanted a real woman?"

Chord side eyed him hard before replying, "I just don't want to do 'The Most' as Kevin is always saying about me and end up permanently in the Friend zone. Or the John Travolta Creeper box."

Nash had to agree - those were both very good points made there. Chord did have a way of making a situation even worse without meaning to sometimes..

"Okay. Then why don't you just ask her out? After the show wraps up, just man up and ask if she would like to go out on a date?" Nash asked.

Chord looked at him before turning around to stare out at the beach. "Because...I'm sacred man. What if she can only see me as just 'a really good friend'? What if I mess this all up somehow? Sigh..I never could get this relationship stuff right..and I really want try and have that with her." he admitted softly.

Nash never thought he'd see the day that his brother was this gone for a girl.

_Maybe that's because he wasn't crushing on a girl - I think only falling for a woman could bring out this kind of honesty in someone_ he thought to himself.

He reached back into the cooler, took out 2 more Coronas and pop the tops open. Nudging one towards Chord, he waited for him to accept it before he spoke.

"Just tell her what you just told me. No bullshit. Amber is not like them other chicks, and we both know that if you don't tell her how you feel that you'll only end up with regret. I don't know why you decided to come to me for help, but I'm glad that you did bro."

"Me too man. Talking it out with you has helped a little."

"Good. Now can we end this convo with a toast?"

Chord took a huge swing of his drink before answering. "Well since you did just let me vent, it would be considered a dick move on my part if I said no, uh?"

"Ya damn right it would be a dick move! So I'mma say my little toast anyways!"

With both of them now back to laughing and lounging in their chairs, Nash held up his Corona and shouted, 'Here's to my baby bro - finally getting his shit together with matters of the heart. Apparently **Blackstreet** still lives ladies! Whoot WHOOOO!"


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Ya'll I so, so sorry for the late ass update! Life got hectic and then I just wasn't inspired to write for a minute, and then I found myself staring at a bunch of rough drafts and realized that I'd written myself into a corner and decided to start all over.

If you're also reading THK, DID, and RR - please know that I am proofreading them this week and will have them up asap. Also, I am looking for a beta/would like to be a beta, so if anyone is interested - hit me up! On with the story :)

**Disclaimer**: See first chapter

The last day of shooting was 24 hours away and Chord had yet to tell Amber.

In his head he must have told her at least once a day, but every time he got the nerve to tell her something would get in the way. The first day everyone was getting settled back in and they didn't even see each other.

On their second day back to work Chord was finally ready to 'Woo Ms. Riley' as Nash put it. He started slowly by offering to help her with running her lines before going on set. They would meet at her trailer and he always made sure to bring with him her caffeine of choice before starting.

The guys were constantly watching him, but otherwise remained silent. Until yesterday. That's when the McHale storm hit.

"You know Chord, the studio has security. I don't need you to see me to my car _every_ day." Amber said.

"Yeah, I know that." He said sheepishly "It's just now that 'Sam and Mercedes' aren't a couple anymore – I feel like I hardly get to see ya."

Today she had changed after being on set into an old Ramones t-shirt, denim jeans, and converses. Her hair was piled high in a messy bun and she had on no makeup.

He found himself wondering, "_How does she still managed to be so damn beautiful?_"

"Chordy? Chord? You okay?"

He blinked a few times before he realized that he had missed whatever it was that she had said.

"I'm sorry. Whew - these 15 hour days are catching up to me! Did I miss something?"

"I wanted to know if you were okay with running lines with me over lunch instead of in my trailer tomorrow?"

"Sure, that's cool. I'll see ya then mama."

Her eyes seem to light up a little when he called her that. "Boy…you better not let Kevin hear you say that!"

"Speaking of Kevin, don't you usually have lunch with him?"

"Yeah, but we really need to rehearse. It's one of the few scenes that we have together, and I want to get it right."

"Well alright then! Let's get to rehearsing - I can go all night if need be."

He didn't realized how that last sentence sounded out loud and was about to apologize for it until she stopped him by placing a hand on his chest and then slowing looking up to met his eyes.

"Most guys say that and can't, but I have a feeling that you could."

Lord help him - he wasn't gonna make it another day without asking her to have his children if she kept that kind of talk up!

Shaking his head and fighting the blush that was quickly reaching his ears, Chord said, "Umm.. I-I didn't mean it that way. It just came out - I mean, I could - oh crap! I'm sorry."

At this point the blush had made it to his ears and gave his cheeks a nice sun kissed glow.

Amber finally stopped giggling at him to say, "It's okay. I know that you were only joking Chordy. I'll see ya tomorrow!"

He watched as she turned to get into her car and sighed after waving goodbye.

So caught up with his thoughts about tomorrow that he didn't noticed Kevin as he made his way up to him.

"So..you just gonna take my lunch time with my wifey like that? Ain't you monopolizing enough of her time?" Kevin spat out.

"She offered and I accepted man - what did you want me to say? Nah Ambs - I wouldn't feel right about taking Kevin's lunch date away?"

"Hell yeah! That's what you should've said - all that mess and then some."

"See here's the thing - I **don't** feel bad about it."

Kevin gasped and then threw Chord a mean 'judging you' face.

"The hell you mean you don't feel bad?! I thought we were boys! How you seriously gonna go after my wifey like this? Just Joe Biden all over the place and shit!"

Chord was done with ignoring Kevin's cray cray and decided now was a good of time as any to let him know it.

"Kevin - you've known Amber for how long?" When Kevin just looked at him he answered for him.

"Years. Years! And have you ever seriously told her how you felt? Asked her out? Anything?"

Kevin looked at Chord, opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then crossed his arms defensively.

"Okay **Chordy**." he said mockingly "What point are you trying to make?"

"Only that you've had years to see if Amber could really be interested in being more than just friends with you and you never took a chance! I can't do that man - I won't wait around wondering what could've been to see her find someone else. So be mad or whatever you want, but I am going to see if I have a shot at being with her."

"Damn. I really mess up and missed my chance, uh?"

"Yeah. You did. Why did you?" Chord asked

Kevin looked down at his feet and then around the parking lot before looking back at Chord.

"Fear. I would say that I would tell her how I felt, but then right before I did I would choke up. Starting thinking of how it could mess up our friendship and shit.. So I kept my feelings to myself.."

Chord understood all too well the fear that went with acknowledging his feelings for Amber. He could relate, but he still wanted Kevin to know that he wasn't going to back down.

"Listen, I get it. I do. But I gotta tell you - I meant what I said man. I am going to tell Amber how I feel. I don't want to be in your place - no offensive."

"None taken. I just.. I didn't want to admit to myself that you where serious about Amber and that I had maybe missed my chance."

Chord nodded. Then he asked Kevin, "Wait - what do you mean 'maybe'?"

Kevin laughed. "Just that playa - maybe. You ain't tell her yet, and you still don't know if she sees you as a potential boyfriend or not."

Shit.

For once Kevin was right.

While watching him walk away, Chord decided that tomorrow was the day. He was going to tell Amber how he felt and let the chips fall where they may.


End file.
